Electric vacuum cleaners are in widespread use in homes, offices and other places where quick and efficient floor cleaning is desired. Such vacuum cleaners are provided in various configurations, such as upright, canister, “stick,” and “powerhead” designs. Some vacuum cleaners have been provided in convertible form, in which they are capable of being converted from one form of vacuum cleaner to another. For example, some upright vacuum cleaners are convertible to operate in canister form, and vice-versa. It is also known to provide stick vacuum cleaners that have removable handheld components. Such a device is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/544,927, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other similar devices include the vacuum cleaner shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,934 (which also has a removable upper handle element), U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,082, and D307,657, which are all incorporated herein by reference.
The suction efficiency of these and other vacuum cleaners is determined both by, among other things, the efficiency of the vacuum source and the suction losses that occur in the air passages through the vacuum cleaner. Avoiding air flow losses in the air passages is important in all kinds of vacuum cleaners in order to achieve a high suction efficiency and reduce energy consumption. However, it is especially important in vacuum cleaners having an electric motor powered by batteries. In such a case it is not a preferred option to compensate for air flow losses in the air passages by increasing the motor power, because this will shorten battery life and necessitate more frequent recharging. Alternatively, the battery power capacity could be increased by providing more batteries in the vacuum cleaner, but this can increase the cost and weight of the vacuum cleaner. It has been found that reducing airflow losses is also particularly important in stick vacuum cleaners and so-called 2-in-1 vacuum cleaners (stick vacuums with removable handheld vacuums), which often have a relatively long airflow path.
While the foregoing devices, and others similar to those, have been successfully used in the marketplace, there still exists a need to provide alternative designs having improved ergonomics, performance, ease of use, ease of manufacture, or other benefits and/or features.